First World War Memorial to Pyrmont–Ultimo Servicemen

Related to City Art

Installed 1921

Pyrmont Statues Public art Anzac

A bronze statue of a female angel holding a shield that says "Their name liveth for ever more" stands atop a stone pedestal. On the sides of the pedestal are bronze plaques with the names of soldiers from Pyrmont-Ultimo who served in the great war. A bed of purple flowers is in front of the monument.

Close view of a bronze statue of a female angel holding a shield that says "Their name liveth for ever more".

A winged woman presides over the World War 1 memorial to enlisted soldiers from Pyrmont and Ultimo.

Union Square

5010 Union Street

Pyrmont

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Artist: Gilbert Doble

Artwork description

This bronze statue features a winged female standing on a trachyte rock pedestal mounted on a base of rough-hewn sandstone. The pedestal bears bronze tablets on each face with the names of the soldiers who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) from the Pyrmont–Ultimo district.

A ring of decorative iron, which is embedded into the paving, surrounds the statue. It was installed in Union Square on the corner of Harris and Union streets, Pyrmont in 1921.

Subject

The statue was erected by the Committee of the Pyrmont–Ultimo Districts as a Roll of Honour to men of the district who enlisted in the AIF.

Artist

The statue was created by Gilbert Doble (1881–1974). Doble had a studio in Marrickville and worked originally as a stonemason. His other works include the Boer War Memorial, Evan’s Memorial in Bathurst, Winged Victory Soldier’s Memorial in Marrickville, and the War Memorial in Wellington, NSW.

During 1917 a group of Pyrmont and Ultimo residents successfully sought permission from the Council of the City of Sydney to build a memorial to the men of the district who had enlisted in the AIF. The memorial was to be located in a garden at the intersection of Harris and Union streets.

The monument was paid for by the Pyrmont and Ultimo Roll of Honour Fund, which was also responsible for calling for tenders for the design. As with other privately sponsored monuments and memorials in the city, the Council reserved the right of final approval for the design.

The Roll of Honour Fund and the Council both approved a design submitted by Gilbert Doble in 1919. In August 1921, the City Surveyor reported that the circular ‘dwarf’ wall around the memorial had been completed and that the space between the wall and pedestal was to be filled with soil and turfed. Council spent around £100 on these improvements at the memorial’s base.

The erection of the statue was finished towards the end of 1921. On 21 February the following year, the City Surveyor reported that the memorial was completed.
- An inscription at the head of the name tablets, on the front of the statue reads:
  
  Raised in Honour of the Men of Pyrmont and Ultimo who served their country during the 1914 Great War 1919. Erected by the people of these districts.
- An inscription on the shield held in the left hand of the winged woman atop the pedestal reads:
  
  Their Name Liveth For Ever More